Share Your Cockpit Organization Tips?

kontiki

kontiki

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Kontiki
I saw a photo of another pilot flying around with pen clutched in yoke hand.

I wanted to:

#1 - share my el cheapo works great tip.

#2 - solicit good ideas from others.

My tip is a mini mag lite holster stitched to my kneeboard strap. See photo. Rubber bands apply a little tension. Always easy to find a pencil.

Thanks,
 

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One in a shirt pocket or jacket pocket, clipped to collar, stuffed in side pocket, one in the "glove" box, two or three in the side of the Brightline bag...
 
A plastic magazine box fits between the front seats on a Cherokee and holds all charts, approach plates, etc. needed for a particular leg
 
As far as pens, I occasionally drop them and they go in a place i can't reach, so I have a few pens with the clips on them, and clip them to my shirt collar. Easy reach.
 
I think my all-time favorite cockpit organizer would be Andy Devine's method of using a clothespin on the trim wheel to hold his cigarette (ala 'Island in the Sky' in case you haven't seen it)
 
As for holding writing implements, I have always used Pentel mechanical pencils - they have clips that keep the pencil attached to the kneeboard.
 
Sectional on the side of the panel in the place where the windscreen and panel come together. It can go under the leg upper leg too.
Pencil and nav tools in the side pocket or shirt pocket.
Watch on the wrist.
Toss things on the right seat as needed.
What else do you need?

And if you drop a pencil, simply float it up off the floor and pick it out of the air.
 
I finally stopped with the Pentel mechanical pencils after I got tired of the last 1/2" of lead just falling out of the thing always as a bad moment (when I want to write). The 0.5mm leads kept breaking too.

Now I buy large boxes of wood pencils, have an electric sharpener at my desk and a $1 dollar sharpener in the bag. I wish I had done it sooner.
 
I tied one end of a string to a mechanical pencil and the other end to my knee board to act as a lanyard. So whenever I drop the pencil (too often it seems) it's easy to retrieve.
 
Velcro across the entire glareshield. Just about everything small has the opposing velcro attached to it. I rarely lose anything or drop it.
 
kontiki said:
I finally stopped with the Pentel mechanical pencils after I got tired of the last 1/2" of lead just falling out of the thing always as a bad moment (when I want to write). The 0.5mm leads kept breaking too.
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I gave up on 0.5 like ten minutes into my first office job during the summer before my first semester of college. Broke that "lead" every time. I press too hard.

The place had 0.7 versions of the same pencils and those don't break. I was happier.

I then went on a mechanical pencil "quest" being a geek, and all.

There's different hardnesses of "lead" with "HB" being the most common, since it most closely matches a "#2" pencil, but I found that the next softer rating made for more comfortable writing, darker marking on the paper, and resisted breakage better.

I know, boring info but maybe I can send someone else down the path of hunting the mechanical pencil aisle at office-supply stores for their own "pencil odyssey" in finding the right pencil for them. I eventually settled on 0.9 and 4B.

Over the years I've tried various combinations including 0.3 sized stuff and harder and softer "lead" too.

http://davesmechanicalpencils.blogspot.com/2006/04/lead-size-hardness.html

One batch of "lead" I bought fixed that "end of the lead" problem by changing color from black to red at the end. It was prone to breakage at the color change point and I never saw any of it ever again in any stores. Definitely wasn't available in my 0.9 favorite size anyway. Only 0.5 and 0.7.

Go forth and play with more mechanical pencils now! ;)
 
kontiki said:
I saw a photo of another pilot flying around with pen clutched in yoke hand.

I wanted to:

#1 - share my el cheapo works great tip.

#2 - solicit good ideas from others.

My tip is a mini mag lite holster stitched to my kneeboard strap. See photo. Rubber bands apply a little tension. Always easy to find a pencil.

Thanks,
Click to expand...

Was this pilot with the pen clutched in hand also wearing a pink watch?

Thanks for the thread - I lost a pen tonight (but had another) and even a flashlight (but had another). I need to start bringing that darned kneeboard. So much for "using my passengers" - they are not as quick to respond as I had hoped. Oh and they lose stuff too.
 
Nate,

I'm with you. I used to do A/E designs and draw plans before the CAD days and Pentel pencils were a must. I still have a few 0.5, many 0.7 and a couple of cannons (0.9) and I use them everyday. I'd be lost without them and with "regular" pencils.

This has been a while now but I've run into some people who have disparaged Pentels as being a PITA when they'd see me using mine. They'd ask how I could possibly find it practical. Then I'd discover that they thought you had to feed the leads in one at a a time from the front...they didn't realize that the lead is loaded in bulk from the back and that the pencils auto feed. That was always pretty funny and they were always pretty embarrassed.
 
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fgcason said:
And if you drop a pencil, simply float it up off the floor and pick it out of the air.
Click to expand...

I dropped my camera down between the floorboards in my brothers Pitts. I managed to pin it in place with one foot so it didn't slide back into the controls. He suggested a roll to bring it within reach, but I had a lot of our bags in my lap and it didn't seem like a good idea. By the time we landed, I couldn't move anymore after keeping my foot down there to hold the camera the whole time.

But, in my ride, I carry a couple of those "three way" pens - black / red / pencil. Usually at least one can be coerced to work. Plus it makes for colorful notes. Usually the pen is clipped into the binding of a spiral notebook where everything gets written.

The notebook and a clipboard with charts usually ride on an overhead shelf or the right seat.

Other stuff is in my bag in the back (the flashlight I don't use, the E6B I don't use, etc.)

That's about as organized as I get.
 
Fearless Tower said:
I think my all-time favorite cockpit organizer would be Andy Devine's method of using a clothespin on the trim wheel to hold his cigarette (ala 'Island in the Sky' in case you haven't seen it)
Click to expand...
Dooley's down on the ice?

Great movie, though Slim Pickens in a bathing suit I could have done without.
 
I use a knee board with a clip to hold my pen. I also have a spare in a side pocket with a small LED flashlight located on the kick panel. Extra pens/pencils in my flight bag on right rear seat.

I keep backup charts between the rear seats, very easy to reach. I use the iPad and foreflight so things are pretty neat and organized. With the 530 and the 496 coupled the route is always available and with battery backup on the 496.

My iPad sits on my knee board for approaches and sometimes I lean it against the throttle quadrant, perfect spacing and the rubber backing on the iPad eliminates the chance of slipping off. When not viewing I place the ipad behind the right seat in front of a floor vent to help keep it cool on summer flights.

So far the system works well for me but it did take some time to get comfortable with everything and its location. I've been in IMC with some good bumps along the way that made amendending routes exciting to say the least but my set up works well.
 
kontiki said:
I finally stopped with the Pentel mechanical pencils after I got tired of the last 1/2" of lead just falling out of the thing always as a bad moment (when I want to write). The 0.5mm leads kept breaking too.

Now I buy large boxes of wood pencils, have an electric sharpener at my desk and a $1 dollar sharpener in the bag. I wish I had done it sooner.
Click to expand...

Fearless Tower said:
As for holding writing implements, I have always used Pentel mechanical pencils - they have clips that keep the pencil attached to the kneeboard.
Click to expand...


Interesting, I prefer pens but I know some pilots that absolutly insist on pencils, for those that do, why?

As for me, I have a tri-fold knee board that keeps everything except my chart which I put on the pax seat unless I have a pax who holds it. If its my wife it ends up on the floor as she ALWAYS falls asleep and drops it.
 
AdamZ said:
Interesting, I prefer pens but I know some pilots that absolutly insist on pencils, for those that do, why?
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I have no idea. I carry both but find myself using the pencil far more than the pen. I only use a pen when it's required like writing &/or signing checks and credit card receipts, etc.
 
Best ogranizational tool I've ever used... my wife! Seriously, she handles the radio freq's and the charts/gps, makes for a helluva ride!
 
AdamZ said:
Interesting, I prefer pens but I know some pilots that absolutly insist on pencils, for those that do, why?
Click to expand...

For me it has to do with my merchant marine background - that is where I was turned on to mechanical pencils. I use the 0.7 lead and found that when marking positions on charts, it is the best combination of precision, hardness and darkness. I have been a hardcore user of Pentels ever since, so when I started flying....that's what I use.

It is also a mental thing for me (again, based on my maritime background)....pens are for logbooks.....pencils are for navigation.
 
I can't use pencils in the cockpit, I tend to either break the lead, or tear paper. If it's a hard enough lead that I'm not doing either of those, I can't read it.

One plane I CANNOT get organized in is a DA40. I love flying with the center stick and all but it sure takes up a lot of lap real estate. That's a rant - I don't have access to a DA40 anymore so I don't actually need the tips, at least not at the moment. I'm sure other Diamond drivers will chime in with some good advice though.
 
Interesting, I prefer pens but I know some pilots that absolutly insist on pencils, for those that do, why?
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I feel strongly about my preference for pencils.

They are reliable at all attitudes, work at most temperatures and pressures, it's easy to determine how well one will write when you pick it up, they erase easily, they cost pennies, they have erasers which usually only need to last as long as the rest of the pencil.

I was in a staff meeting today watching a co-worker across the table carefully picking up leads and feeding them back into his mechanical pencil. I felt very smug realizing I would never foolishly pull an eraser out for adjustment and dump all the leads again.

I never have lead dumps any more. I no longer maintain that little cache of mechanical pencil parts in my desk drawer.

Like many things that look very sexy, mechanical pencils are high maintenence.
 
I'll move away from writing instruments for a bit and offer that I put my reading glasses on a lanyard, similar to the 90 year old librarian from years back. I have no restrictions on my medical, but I do use readers and having them easy to find makes life easier.

Had a "mayday" situation on my boat last year, picked up my cell phone, to make a quick search for a phone number and couldn't read a thing. Stress kills my eyesight. I want my glasses within reach when I need them.

Organization? I don't know, maybe...I guess...
 
I use velcro on two pens to the right of the instruments. The top pen is a 3 way pen pencil and the bottom one is a Staedtler Non-Permanent fine point Lumocolor water based pen. I laminate my checklist pages and have ATC and Atis sheets which, since the Staedler is water based wipes off with a kleenex for the next trip.
The sheet between the glare shield and the instruments is also laminated and velcro-ed and has local Airport freq, runways, pattern alt. For longer trips out of the area I print up the route of flight with the same info. Nice to have them up and hands free to keep the eyeballs outside and as a backup if the cluster of Garmin and Ipad gadgets go TU.
 

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Since I lose my pen all the time, I guess on my last flight I figured you can't lose your own hand because it is attached to your body:


6168780052_ee66d60397_z.jpg
 
The top part is a VOR radial since I was flying at night and had seen prior runway light issues.

The bottom two are NorCal Approach frequencies for requesting flight following during the (night) bay tour which is "optional" - you simply stay out of the Bravo and don't call them up if you don't want to . . . but I always do.
 
I know at least one aerobatic pilot who writes on his knee.

Not a kneeboard, that would just be in the way of the stick, and probably become a projectile in the cockpit during negative G maneuvers, he says... just... his knee. :)
 
VTC_WS6 said:
Best ogranizational tool I've ever used... my wife! Seriously, she handles the radio freq's and the charts/gps, makes for a helluva ride!
Click to expand...

I need for her to speak to my Bride.......

Mary is asleep before I make the hold short after run up. I do set stuff on her lap while we fly like the camera, iPad, charts, water bottle.
 
GMascelli said:
Mary is asleep before I make the hold short after run up. I do set stuff on her lap while we fly like the camera, iPad, charts, water bottle.
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I have this image of you stacking stuff on her lap, while she's asleep now. Like a mini game of Jenga or Tetris.
 
kontiki said:
I was in a staff meeting today watching a co-worker across the table carefully picking up leads and feeding them back into his mechanical pencil. I felt very smug realizing I would never foolishly pull an eraser out for adjustment and dump all the leads again.

I never have lead dumps any more. I no longer maintain that little cache of mechanical pencil parts in my desk drawer.

Like many things that look very sexy, mechanical pencils are high maintenence.
Click to expand...

I guess after using a mechanical pencil for 30+ years one has learned somewhere along the way not to do stupid stuff anymore!

And, I'd bet you spend FAR more time just sharpening your traditional pencil than anyone who uses a mechanical pencil spends doing everything required to keep them running...which isn't much. If that weren't the case, then those of us who used to use them professionally on the drafting board would have stayed with the "traditional" pencils. But we found that Pentels were far quicker.

High mx? Hardly!
 
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kimberlyanne546 said:
Was this pilot with the pen clutched in hand also wearing a pink watch?
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I saw that image and it crossed my mind that keeping the pen there may not be the best idea, but it did not warrant a post just to be a dick to a fellow newbie. I usually just drop my pens and pencils into my belly pack (see my avatar), and I always keep a writing space on the kneeboard.
 
zaitcev said:
I saw that image and it crossed my mind that keeping the pen there may not be the best idea, but it did not warrant a post just to be a dick to a fellow newbie. I usually just drop my pens and pencils into my belly pack (see my avatar), and I always keep a writing space on the kneeboard.
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I'm pretty sure the OP wasn't trying to be a dick.

But yeah I'm a clutz.
 
All,

Honestly, I only post on topics that are interesting to me.

Seeing the pink watch photo did jog my memory to finally ask the question, now that I have a forum for seeing what others do.

Reviewing the OP, I didn't see anything critical. I quite like my solution.

The topic has been a curiosity for me since I started my IR. I think the King Videos devote an entire lesson to cockpit organization.

There are people that seem naturally inclined to get angry, or pointlessly combative on internet comm tools. I wish you all the best with that.
 
n20junkie said:
Ipad..
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Yeah, pretty much.

Last night I went up just to do some stop-n-goes for currency. Since I'd never leave the pattern, figured I'd just take my headset and a small notepad in case I needed to write something down. Hardly needed the iPad.

Then I figured, what the heck. I've gotten so used to using the iPad for even writing things down that I left the notepad behind and took the iPad.
 
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